Let's Start a Riot
by rubyred111
Summary: What if Mark got hurt in the riot scene in the movie. What if it was by Benny? What if I stop talking and you can start reading huh? It's slightly AU because Mark never makes it to the Life Cafe. Please read and review please! Rated T because of some swearing and some depictions of violence.
1. Let's Start a Riot

**Hello there fellow readers! It's been awhile since I've written anything. I'm sorry about that. Real life has had me very busy. Needless to say, Rent has been on my mind after watching it. I watched it a few times when I was younger. But now that I have it again, it's turned into my favorite movie!**

**Anyways, this story is about what would happen if Mark got injured in the riot scene in Rent the movie. Anyone ever wonder if it ever could happen? I have! Well, enough of my babbling. Enjoy the story!**

_**Let's Start a Riot**_

_***Mark's POV***_

Today was the day, the day or Maureen's protest. I had to go and help set up the sound equipment, not without some teasing from Collins, Roger, and Angel. Meeting Joanne was more or less awkward but was quickly averted, albeit with a bump on the head that made me feel oddly refreshed. I then had to go to Life Support with the others and then back to the scene of the protest. So, needless to say, I was very busy. I let Roger do his own thing while I got everything ready. People started filing in. After about an hour or so, the place was packed. Go figure, a person like Maureen could draw hundreds of people like flies to honey. After finding the others in a small group, I jumped from the stage and joined them.

We all cheered and clapped when Maureen appeared on a motorcycle and a helmet. The crowd parted like the Red Sea, not joking. After she got on stage was when I started to film. Not only was it engaging, it was also very entertaining. Maureen could surely give a performance and still not give a damn about making a fool out of herself. I had no idea why she had everyone shouting "Moo!" But people started getting into it. But shortly after that was when everything went straight to hell. The police, which very obviously on standby since we all saw them on the edge of the crowd to begin with, started coming up and causing a scene. It was a complete opposite of what should happen. The police should be the ones stopping the violence, not starting it. They started hitting people and that's when they started fighting back. And that's when I got it all on film, the performance, the riot, everything. The crowd started to move and I had little else but to fight my way through it. I was tossed and shoved and kicked and punched for people trying to get out of there. But what I wasn't expecting was Benny belting me across the face hard enough for me to land on the ground, glasses askew so I couldn't see. The crowd paid either of us little heed.

"What the hell Benny?" I asked him, glaring up at his blurry form.

"You should have taken my offer." Benny said sneering at me. He kicked me when I tried to get up, sending me back to the ground, groaning. Benny put a foot on my chest and tried to take my camera. He was the one who put the cops on standby. In his mind, he couldn't be caught being the one causing this. I hugged my camera close. Which only Benny even more irritated and angry with me.

"Give me the damn camera!" he snarled at me.

"No." I said, managing not to make it sound like a whimper. He picked me up and threw me across the room, I didn't have my glasses and I couldn't throw a punch to save my life. I was in trouble. I cried out as I hit the ground. I then heard his loud footsteps and he slammed me into the wall. I was thrown that far? He punched me in the stomach, causing me to lose my breath and hunch over. He then grabbed me by the hair and punched me hard enough to slam against the wall and to the floor. He then proceeded to punch and kick me constantly. I don't know how long it lasted, I just wanted him and the pain to stop. He took my camera from my weak grip and grabbed me by the throat and slammed my head into the wall, making me whimper.

"You're so stupid Cohen. Why try saving your evidence when you can't even save yourself?" he asked, sneering at me. He let me go roughly and stalked off with my camera. I laid there for a good while. I'm not sure how I was able to get up, but I did. I crawled along the floor, searching for my glasses. After finding them, I put them on shakily. I stared at my hands; they were cut up and bruised. Being slammed around like that, I wasn't very surprised. But the rest of my body felt like I got ran over...twice. My head, neck, stomach, ribs and shoulders hurt. So basically almost everywhere was painful. How was I going to explain this to everyone? I didn't want them up in arms and getting either the same treatment I did or someone going after them and making them miserable. I resigned myself to not go to the Life Café and straight home. Better to be caught in a place where I felt safe then a place where I felt I wasn't.

I stumbled and limped all the way back to the loft apartment when my best friend and I, Roger were renting. I struggled to open the door, being my hands were barely usable at the moment. But I did, which was a small victory for me. I fell rather then sat down and tried to quell the pain all over my body. I couldn't afford going to the hospital. Roger and I were both broke. I moaned softly as I tried to move, my ribs not really liking the idea. How was this going to go over with Roger? Not well, he already knew that? He often got explosive when I got injured. Since I couldn't rightly defend myself, he often got angry. Not at me, but at anyone who would target me at all. I resigned myself that if I could hide it, not likely, I might as well do it while standing. I struggled to my feet and was half way to the kitchen when I heard footsteps. Angry ones, uh-oh.

Roger came in, not really happy. Well, I _had_ promised I would be at the Life Café. But that was before I got the shit kicked out of me and I felt like I had been run over, like I said, twice. I heard the loud footsteps stop and resisted the urge to turn and look at Roger.

"Where the hell were you Mark?" he asked. I made a point to make some coffee to keep me busy.

"I got lost in the crowd, sorry." I said, my voice sounded like I was an old man. I sounded that bad?!

"Then why not meet us after the crowd thins? You missed a great time. _You promised_!" Roger said, yelling out the last part, making me jump. I had a cup of coffee in my hands to give my body something to do. I heard the angry footsteps come towards me hurriedly and braced myself.

"God damn it Mark! Do you have to be so selfish all the time?!" he asked, shoving me. The coffee spilled over my hands, making me cry out when they hit all the cuts and bruises. I dropped the cup as well, causing it to shatter. I heard Roger sigh, still not looking at him. I'd imagine he was running his fingers through his hair right now.

"I'm sorry Mark, that was out of line." He said, reaching for my shoulder. I flinched away.

"What the hell's gotten into Mark?" he asked. I shook my head, heading for my room.

"Damn it Mark Cohen! Talk to me!" he shouted at me, grabbing my arm and spinning me around. He froze, seeing my face and released my arm like I burned him. His stunned silence scared me.

"R-Roger?" I asked, stammering. Roger came forward, slowly, with a look of concern I don't normally see on his face. He takes off my scarf and I let him. I didn't have the strength now that he saw. He saw the bruises and his face darkened.

"Roger..." I said, but Roger cut me off.

"What else Mark, show me what else." He said, now looking at my hands, my bruised and bloodied hands. I sighed and carefully lifted up my shirt, revealing the darkening bruises. I then decided to take my whole shirt off the show him my shoulders. Roger had gone pale at my injuries, but still held that fierce glare. I put the shirt carefully back on. Not carefully enough, I moved the wrong way and my vision whitened out. I swayed on my feet and Roger rushed forward to catch me. I was placed on the couch then I could hear Roger rushing about the house. He came back with an ice pack, a first aid kit, a cold cloth and a few extra blankets.

He put the ice packs on my hands, making me hiss. After making my hands numb enough, he cleaned it out as best he could and bandaged my hands. He gave me some aspirin for my head and was the only thing for pain. I dry swallowed it as Roger placed the blankets around me. I tried moving, but hissed in pain. Roger became eye level with me, looking at me with a stern gaze.

"Stop moving around." He said softly. Then he asked the question I didn't want to answer.

"Your camera Mark, where is it?" Roger asked. Sometimes I really do hate my luck.

**Dun Dun Dun! I'm thinking of making this into a story. But I don't know yet. I never liked Benny in the movie. He just seemed uncaring and snobby to me and I hate that. If I offended anyone by saying that, I'm sorry. Give me ideas, advice, and reviews. Please tell me how I did, honesty is the best policy, haha!**

**And obviously this is AU, or slightly, seeing as Mark never made it to the Life Café or that he actually did get hurt. **


	2. Here We Are

**Hello, hello again! I decided to make another chapter, seeing as people probably want to know what happened, what happens to Mark, Benny, and how the others react. I only hope I'm doing the characters justice enough. If not, please let me know. Advice is always welcome, even if it's to criticize. I'll get to the others reactions either in this chapter or the next, depending if I have any inspiration to make another chapter after this one.**

**Anyways, enjoy the reading and remember to review. I love making new friends and seeing they view my writing. I have an imagination and I try and use it when it's not fried by work. Enough of my babbling; enjoy the next chapter! The titles are song titles; I'm trying to find a song title that fits every chapter.**

_**Here We Are**_

Roger looked at me, waiting for an answer. But I didn't give him one. His brow furrowed and he flew away from me, pacing. Something he did when he was angry and needed something to do to get it out. He sighed and turned to face me.

"Mark, where's the camera? Talk to me, you're not usually this quiet." He said softly. I didn't really know where to start or what I should say. Benny had some influence, well, a lot of it. I didn't want Roger to get hurt if I did tell him about Benny, so I stayed silent. Which only made Roger press more, to my plummeting luck. I didn't talk though, staying silent. So Roger then resorted to guessing. And I hate when he guesses, because he's usually right on the nose.

"Was it Benny?" he asked me. See? Didn't I tell you? I said nothing; I just looked down, which gave it away anyways. I'm such an open book. I can feel Roger's anger when I was looking down. I heard him stalk away and sighed. Now he's mad at me, or so I think. I can never tell with Roger. I heard Roger pick up the phone, still not looking at Roger. I'm so pathetic. Just remembering how defenseless I was made my eyes burn. I was always the weak link. I hated when people thought I couldn't take care of myself. I could take care of myself just fine. A few minutes later I heard Roger put the phone down and walked over to shove his shoes on. I looked at him, looking at him quizzically.

"What are you doing?" I asked him. He looked at me, eyes stony. I looked away from the gaze.

"I called Collins. We're getting your camera back." Roger said. I paled and jumped up, despite my injuries and grabbed Roger's arm.

"You can't!" I said.

"And why the hell not Mark? He fucking _hurt you_." He said, clenching his fists.

"Because I don't want you to get hurt. Or in trouble...because of me." I said, looking down, still hanging onto his arm.

"Benny deserves what he's about to get." Roger said, wrenching his arm out of my grip. It burned, the way his tone was with me, as well as how angry he was. Was he angry at me? Benny? Both? He stalked out of the room without a word and slammed the door. I stood there, my head hanging down. I sat down on the couch and brought my legs to my chest. I didn't care If it hurt. I just needed the pain to take away my worry and my thoughts about how incompetent I was. I mean, anyone could run or defend themselves. I just...couldn't. Every situation I could think of either had me getting the crap beat out of me or someone saving me or someone having to dish out revenge for me. And I hated it...

I don't know how long I stayed in that position. But I was suddenly jostled out of it, making me jump and wince and whimper.

"Sorry sugar." said a familiar voice. I looked up and saw Angel. She smiled down at me and gently moved my legs out from in front of me. Of course she would know, Collins was staying with her and he would have told her. She must have come here to see how I was doing. I really adore Angel for that. She looks at my injuries, a spark in her eye. She was mad too.

"How bad are they sugar?" she asked me, looking at me. I look away; I've been doing that all day. I hear Angel sigh and walk off, throwing away the supplies from the table and putting the ice packs in the freezer so I can have them later for my bruises. She sits back down, looking at me while I avoid her gaze.

"Why won't you look at me sugar? Other than the injuries, is something else wrong?" she asked, concern I hear in her voice. I'd imagine her brow being furrowed with concern as well. I say nothing for what seems like forever. Angel doesn't leave though, like Roger did. While I didn't feel the need for revenge and to let anger out somehow, Roger did.

"I feel inadequate." I said softly. Though I know Angel heard me.

"Why sugar?" Angel asked. I can clearly hear the confusion in her voice.

"Because I can't defend myself properly. I have to have someone defend or protect me all the time. Like I'm a weak little baby or something." I said.

"That's not true. You may not be able to fight well, but you're our peacekeeper. You make sure everything gets resolved, no matter how difficult." Angel said.

"I don't feel at all that useful." I said, shaking my head.

"Well, you are. And damn it if I have to hear these painful words coming from a mouth like yours. Now, what else is wrong?" Angel asked.

"Roger's mad." I said shrugging, trying to sound indifferent. It didn't work, it came out more like a sad confession then anything else.

"At you?" Angel asked, I shrug.

"No clue. Could be me, or Benny, or both." I said. Angel got up suddenly. I look up at her, she had her hands on her hips, glaring off where the door was as if daring Roger to come in.

"No one makes Mark Cohen cry. Not even Roger. If he is indeed mad at you, I'll be giving him an ass-whooping." Angel said. Angel was in protective mama-bear mode. It looked good on her, but I didn't think I was good enough for that kind of protection. I gently grabbed her arm; she looked at me and kneeled in front of me.

"Mark Cohen, you are one of my best friends. Why won't you let someone take care of you?" she asked.

"Because I'm not worth it." I said. Angel jolts violently at that and grabs my shoulders.

"You are worth it! You are! What made this come up all of a sudden?" Angel asked. Funny she should ask that. It's been on my mind since...well...since AIDS basically was taking everyone I know away, my relationship went down the drain, and Benny became the bully we all knew he would. So basically, I would end up alone sooner or later.

"It's just...nothing." I said, shaking my head.

"No Mark, tell me." Angel prodded. I fell silent after that, not letting myself speak. Angel sighed; she knew I wasn't going to talk anymore about it. I knew that she was worried about me. I was never this quiet. Angel kept tending to me, while I was off in my own little world just trying to put the crumbling pieces of me back together. It was around 6ish when the door loudly opened and Collins strode in, along with Roger. They looked satisfied, but still pissed off. Angel looked at Collins, then at Roger. She then got up and strode to them.

"Collins, take care of Mark. And you, come with me. I need to talk to you." She said, pointing a blue painted finger at Roger and motioning for him to follow her. Roger didn't really know what he was in for, considering the spark of anger in Angel's eye, which she didn't normally have. Once the door was closed to their loft, Roger turned to her.

"What's up?" he asked.

"What's up is Mark has been falling apart and it took him getting the crap beat out of him for us to finally notice." Angel said.

"What do you mean?" Roger asked, his brow furrowed in concern. Angel huffed and pointed at Roger.

"One: he thinks you're mad at him. And you know how much that young man adores you. He's like your little brother. Two: he feels alone. What with us having AIDS and probably dying soon. And with him not in a relationship anymore and Maureen constantly flirting and is something he can no longer have. Three: We've all been wrapped up in our lives, going to Mark, when Mark was the one that needed us. That enough for you?" she asked him, hands on her hips.

"You got all of that from Mark?" Roger asked, brows raised at her. Angel shook her head.

"No, it's clear in his eyes. He's been avoiding my gaze for most of the time I have been here. Except for a few times, so basically, in a nutshell, he feels inadequate and useless and it's wearing on him." Angel said sighing. Roger looked back towards the door.

"He's not though." Roger said softly.

"Then why don't you go tell him that. He'll listen to you the most." Angel said. Roger got a determined look on his face and nodded. They both went to the door and reopened it. Collins was with me, trying to get me to talk and look at him, no success. Collins looks up when Roger and Angel both come in and Roger motions to Collins. Collins sighs and gets up and walks over to them. Roger immediately explains what Angel told him. Collins glanced at me, not that I noticed at all, then back to the other two. Collins sighed and nodded. "Get Mimi, I'll call Maureen and Joanne and get them over here." He said, looking at me again. Again, I didn't really notice.

"It's time we took care of Mark instead of the other way around." He said.

"And I know just how to do it." Roger said smirking. Collins smothered a chuckle.

"Benny? Really Roger?" he asked.

"Hold up. I thought you dealt with Benny?" Angel asked, confused. Roger shook his head.

"No, unfortunately, but we did get the location where Mark's camera was. He loves that thing and the riot was recorded on there. I'm thinking that's what got Mark in Benny's path." Roger said.

"Ooooh. He's dead meat now." Angel said, anger clearly showing in her voice. Collins smiled at his love and took her hand.

"Calm down Angel. Now, listen to Roger." He said, motioning to Roger, who smiled a little. She had interrupted him. Angel slapped a hand over her mouth and Roger smothered his own chuckle.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do." He said, leaning in, the three of them making sure I wasn't listening, not that had any inclination to.

**Ta-da! End of chapter 2! I wanted Mark's issues to come out of this one. Wouldn't that happen to you if you got so beat up you thought you weren't worth anyone's time? I certainly would. But don't worry, they'll cheer Mark back up in no time. Also, I hope portraying Angel as the 'protective mother bear' is okay with everyone. She just seems the type to protect the weaker ones in her circle of friends. Read and review please. I will post a new chappie real soon. Bye bye now!**


	3. Fire It Up

**Hi there my faithful readers! I'm glad you liked the two chapters I have so far. It turned into more than I thought it would. But I like it, so I'm going with it. Ever wonder what Roger had up his sleeve in the latest chapter? Well...fear no more! This chapter will bring the plan into full swing. And some much needed comfort on Mark's part. I have no idea why I like to angst Mark out. But I do, but it's all going to end happily. So I don't feel too awful about it. Didn't you just want to either wrap Mark in a hug or slap him upside the head for what he said about himself? I was the one writing it and I was doing a little of both, ha-ha! But enough of my babbling, here's the next chappie! Enjoy my lovely readers!**

_**Fire It Up**_

Once everyone was leaning in a small, tight circle, Roger started to talk about the plan he had in mind. Collins could tell that this would be good. Roger, when given a good influence, usually had a good plan. Well, most of the time he wouldn't. But having the others around probably helped Roger keep a good head on his shoulders.

"All right, so where is Mark's camera?" Angel asked.

"I saw it in his apartment. He had tried to hide it. Not very well, unless he wanted to boast about what he did." Roger said in a harsh tone. Angel scowled and growled softly. Collins squeezed her arm gently as Roger continued with his plan.

"He should be out of his apartment by now. But just in case, we need a distraction in order to get into the apartment. There's always a window that doesn't shut properly, one of you guys can squeeze in there and get it and get out." Roger said, citing part one of the plan.

"Well, I think we should wait for Mimi, Joanne, and Maureen. They would want in on this." Angel said. Collins nodded and called Maureen and Joanne while Roger called Mimi. They each cited what happened to Mark and what they were talking about and came in record time. The door opened and Mimi stumbled in, having run all the way up here. Joanne and Maureen not far behind, in fact, almost running into her so Mimi had to sort of side-step to the side to avoid a train wreck. The three of them looked at Mark and strode forward to the other three.

"What do you need?" Mimi asked him, a fire in her eyes. Roger turned to her, sighing.

"I need a distraction, any kind to keep Benny away from his apartment to get the camera and get out without getting caught." Roger said. Mimi got an evil smirk on his face, making Roger chuckle.

"I know that look, tell me." He said.

"Well...he loves his car to death, why not trash it. An eye for an eye." She said shrugging.

Collins laughed, "Ain't that the truth." He said chuckling. So they had a distraction. And what about Mark, what to do to help him see that he WAS worth everyone's time, that he wasn't worthless like he thought? Roger would have to take on that one until Mimi had an idea.

"I have a plan. But I won't tell you. Keep everyone away from Maureen's stage." Mimi said; looking at Maureen, who was nodding and smiling, she obviously had the same idea. Roger furrowed his brow but nodded.

"All right, get it all ready after you get the camera." Roger said.

"Let me do it. I need something to do." Joanne said; which was surprising. But Roger nodded, he needed everyone to pull together, not argue. This was important.

"All right, let's do this." Roger said clapping his hands together, smirking.

"Wait, someone has to stay here with Mark." Angel said. Shit, she was right.

"I'll stay." Collins said, Angel looked at him, brows furrowed.

"You sure?" she asked, Collins nodded.

"I don't feel like leaving Mark alone." He said. _And possibly do something stupid_ didn't need to be said, it was inferred. They nodded and exited the room and slammed the door behind them. Mimi and Maureen went to the performance stage and Roger turned to Joanne.

"You ready?" he asked, Joanne nodded.

"Let's do this." She said; a fierce fire in her eyes. Roger nodded and strode forward and turned to her one last time, telling her that to make sure to be careful before they both left to where Benny lived and Joanne stayed near the car while Roger went onto the balcony out of sight. He nodded and Joanne picked up a discarded brick and slammed into the windows, smashing them. Roger smiled, seeing Joanne really getting into it. She was on the third one when Benny opened the window, making Roger freeze, please don't turn.

"Hey! Get away from my car!" he yelled out. Joanne just smiled and continued smashing the windows. Man, Maureen really must be rubbing off on her. Either that or she was hiding a wild streak from them, who knew? He heard Benny back inside his apartment and rustle around before slamming the door, forgetting the close the window. Roger sighed in relief and climbed inside and looked for Mark's camera, which was easy to find. But he needed to find the film. It took a few minutes but he found it and made it just in time to get out of the window and out of sight before Benny came back in. Joanne was nowhere to be seen. She must have run off. Good for her, now Benny knows what it feels like to have something taken from him. And the best part is, everyone hated Benny, so if he did call the police, no one would back him up on his story. He smiled as he carried back the camera after he got down from the balcony and rushed out of sight.

He was surprised that Mimi was waiting for him at the foot of the stairs.

"Collins will take him to Maureen's stage later. Come on." She said, taking him by the arm and leading him back out. Roger's brow furrowed but let her lead him there. He looked around and smiled. There were lights streaming above the ceiling, colorful lights like the fall leaves outside. The stage was lit up as well, the amps and everything set up. He smiled at Mimi.

"What's all this?" he asked her, gesturing to the room.

"Well, I thought about it and I thought what a better way than to sing to Mark and have it record it with his camera that we got back for him. Then, if he still doesn't get it, we can have a talk with him afterwards. Mark is worth it." She said smiling. Roger smiled and nodded. He quite liked the plan that Mimi made.

"Does Collins know?" Roger asked. Mimi nodded, smiling.

"Yes, I even went back and got your guitar." She said smiling gesturing to the stage. Roger smiled wider and hugged her.

"Let's get this started. You need any more help?" he asked her. Mimi nodded.

"We need help with the spotlight and the speakers." She said, Roger smiled and got to work. Mark wouldn't know what hit him. He would definitely be surprised.

**And that's the end of that chapter. What did you think? What you will Mark will think or react? And sorry it took so long. Holidays and work have gotten me pretty busy. Plus, I needed to think on this chapter a bit. So if I kept you guys waiting, I'm sorry. What do you think about what Joanne did? Was it too off? Or was it something you could see her doing for someone like Mark? In the movie, they actually did seem to get along quite well. So I guessed I based it off of that. What do you think the others should sing to Mark to show him what he means to them? Give me some song ideas. –laughs- **

**Well, I hope that you enjoyed it and I will try to update soon! Read and review everyone. I like to see that I actually did a good job. –chuckles-**


End file.
